VICTORIA – British Columbia’s natural gas development minister says the federal election and environmental approval are the only wild cards holding up a proposed $36-billion liquefied natural gas plant in the province.
Rich Coleman says a false media report from Malaysia claims that slumping oil and gas prices have the country’s state-owned energy giant Petronas considering delaying its LNG project near Prince Rupert for up to nine years.
He says meetings in Vancouver last week between the joint-venture project’s five financial backers, including Petronas, confirmed they are waiting for federal environmental approval after the election on Monday.
Coleman says the environmental approval decision will come shortly afterwards, followed by a 30-day public comment period and a federal cabinet approval decision.
The B.C. government approved a project development deal last summer, when Petronas-backed Pacific NorthWest LNG officials said federal environmental approval would be the last hurdle.
The company recently said the B.C. project is going full steam ahead.